The Many Way's We Save Money
- We buy things out of season, in the winter we buy clothes for spring etc This way we have our pick of the best snow suits, mitts, rain coats, etc
- we buy things used whenever we can, used clothing for children is a great way to save money, most kids hardly wear their clothes so what you are getting is usually a barely used product, we shop at used clothing stores and on facebook sites, we also pass our hand-me-downs down to family and friends and receive some back as well!
- We hunt and fish to help fill our freezer, I realize this is not for everyone, but it is our way.
- We burn wood in the winter to save on our electric bill costs, again this is not an option for everyone, but thankfully it is an option for us
- we make our own laundry soap, foam hand soap and baby wipes.
- We buy things only when they are on sale, the only items we don't buy on sale are eggs and milk, because these rarely come on sale, if it isn't on sale, we do without, when it is on sale, we buy 2 or 3 of the item. The exception would be if there was something we really needed or wanted, but for the most part, we shop the sales.
- We use Norwex products to clean our home, and while yes it is expensive to get started, once you have the items you need you will never have to shop the “cleaning supplies” isle again! That saves us so much money! Because of Norwex we never have to buy, Windex, Mr Clean, Vim, Comet, toilet bowl or tub or shower cleaner, face wash, dryer sheets, the list goes on, it has also cut way back on the amount of paper towels we buy.
- Buying big tickets items, like a washer and dryer can be hard when you are on a budget, but do the research, yes it will take more time and effort, but you will end up saving yourself money in the long run, read all the reviews on the item, search everywhere for the best sale price, and don't be afraid to ask for a discount, the worst they can say is no.
- We plant a garden and have many wonderful friends and neighbours that share their gardens with us. So at Harvest time, we cut and dice and freeze everything thing and can all the rest, we take advantage of all the free fruit and vegetables this earth offers us and we harvest it to use all year! This is a great way to save money, plus you get delicious meals out of it!
- We wait.... sometimes we have to wait a looooong time and it is hard, but we wait, we wait for things to come on sale, we wait till we have the cash to pay for things, we wait.
- Nothing goes on credit, everything is paid for in cash, or we don't get it, sometimes this rule really hurts, but it is for the best, if you can't afford it now, how do you expect to afford it later, the only place this rule doesn't apply is with our house and our vehicle, cause I can't honestly ever see us having that kind of cash up front, but loans are good they build credit, so there is a plus side.
- We are insured, our home, our car, our lives, some may think 30 year olds don't need these types of insurances, but when my husband was hurt and unable to work for nearly a year, we were very grateful to be so well insured.
- We treat our illness naturally as often as we can, instead of Cough drops, try honey, instead or Neocitran try hot water honey and cinnamon, got an ache or pain, warm up a rice bad and when necessary, buy the medicine you need.
- We meal plan, every meal is planned in advance, I then purchase everything i need to make these 2 weeks worth of meals and then I have everything in the house ready to go, this makes life so much easier! And it saves us money because I plan my meals around the sales flyer and none of the food I buy goes bad before I can use it, because i have a plan for it. Sometimes I will stop at 3 stores to hit all the sales I want, but remember all of those stores need to be close enough that the gas you are burning is not loosing you money. Just think you will never again have to ask yourself, “what's for dinner?” once you get the hang of it, it only take around 10 minutes to plan out your 2 weeks worth of meals, so grab your favourite recipe book and start making a list!
- We shop at garage sales, in the summer it is peak garage sale season! You can find many great finds there! Search and find what you are looking for, sometimes it needs a bath or a scrub down, but think of the money you saved!
- If you are in search of an item, instead of searching the store shelves first ask your own family and friends if they have the item you are searching for, maybe they are willing to sell it to you, post it on your facebook that you are looking for this item, put up a poster, these are all great way to get the word out that you are looking for an item, then when all else fails, search several websites and find your item for the best price, sometimes this means waiting for a sale, but trust me, buying an item you know you can afford, feels much better than a another bill you can't afford.
- We keep our water bill low, we conserve water, we have water savers on all our faucets, sent to us for free from Manitoba Hydro, and also a free shower head, it was hard to get used to less water in the shower, but we are used to it now, we have water saver washing machine and toilet, our water bills are so low that our home was “looked into” because they believed our water bills were too low for how many people that live here. We don't let the water run while we brush our teeth.
- We keep our Electric bills low by, sealing windows with plastic in the winter if necessary, making sure our weather stripping is in good condition on our doors, we only run electric heaters when necessary, same with fans or air conditioning. We turn off the lights when we leave the room, we turn off the computer if we won't be using it for an hour or more. Learning to conserve energy is not an easy routine to get into, but once you start it becomes second nature.
- I bake all our snacks, we do not buy things like cookies, cakes, waffles, cup cakes, muffins or granola bars, we makes these things.
- We bake our own bread with a bread maker, I cost us 31 cents per loaf, you cannot beat that! It is hot easy and ready anytime you need it, plus no chemicals or preservatives in it, you know what is in your bread, cause you made it!
- We manage our money, we pay the bills first and everything else comes later, and sometimes this means we miss out on things and it sucks, but our bills are paid, I couldn't imagine going on a vacation on credit or borrowed money, I would never enjoy myself knowing that I could not afford it and was doing this anyway, you do what you can afford or you stay home, where their is a will there is a way, so if you want it bad enough, you will save for it.
- Every room in our home is decorated on a dime, we watched for sales, shopped at dollar stores, we were given used items from our family and friends, waited for items to come on sale, we bought things used and did what we could afford, and it is beautiful, we love our home and we are very blessed to have it! Sometimes waiting to decorate the house was hard, but we paid for it all with cash, no debt and that makes it worth it.
- We insure our vehicle through the person with the best driving record to keep our rates down.
- We bought a used vehicle, we didn't get what we wanted, we got what we could afford. That means making sacrifices and someone who wants to be debt free as much as they can be, knows all about sacrifices.
- We stock up on sale items, my pantry is an entire closet filled with canned goods and sale items, this was when I need the item and it isn't on sale I don't have to pay full price, cause I have extra in the pantry.
- I do surveys online and earn point for them, which I then turn in for gift cards, so the next time we are headed to the city, I have a gift card to help cover the cost of dinner, I earn disney points off of movies we have bought and games you play online and turn them in for free Disney items like movies, we have received 4 free movies in a little over a year!
- We don't have cable, out here our only option is satellite and at 50$ to 80$, no thank you, we do pay for our internet, which we got a monthly deal on, because I inquired about getting one, and I got it, so we use the internet to get our news and we have netflix to watch on tv, for only 7.99$ a month we have more tv shows then we will ever be able to watch, now that fits much better into my budget!
- We almost never buy our daughter toys, she has SO many and between her Grandparents and her birthday and Christmas she always has plenty, there are much better ways to spend money on her like, going bowling with her, or to a hockey game, or skating, camping, tubing, swimming, sledding, try spending money on activities as opposed to toys and I think you will be pleased!
- We buy craft supplies from the Dollar store, they go a long way and are much cheaper then anywhere else.
- When Christmas or a birthday hits and you feel like your kids have simply too many gifts, it is time to go through some of the old stuff and donate it to make room for the new stuff! We also take some of our daughters toys and store them in a closet for her to have at a later date, this way the joy is spread out a little.
- We buy decorations for holidays after the holiday has passed, ever been to Walmart the day after Christmas, Halloween, Valentine's Day? Everything it 75 to 90% off! It is a great time to stock up on some new decorations for the home.
- We buy gifts far in advance, we have certain people we buy gifts for nieces, nephews, parents etc, so when you see an item that would be perfect for them, buy it then, while it's on sale, so long as it will store well. You always know well in advance about a Wedding or Anniversary celebration, that is a great time to get a gift on sale. We have sometimes bought gifts over 6 months in advance and then when the time comes, you have the gift ready to go and it was on sale to boot!
- Budget your money, know where every dollar is spent, let nothing surprise you. When you sit down and look at your finances it may be over whelming but once you get the hang of it, it will be second nature to you, Every dollar we spend is planned, budgeted and counted for, every dollar. We don't buy items on a whim, if it is not in the budget we don't buy it, better luck next payday!
